Population: 10,300,483 (July 2005 est.)
Capital: Minsk
Languages: Belarusian, Russian, other
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 80%, other (including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim) 20% (1997 est.)
Government: republic in name, although in fact a dictatorship
Climate: cold winters,
cool and moist summers; transitional between continent_idal and maritime
Terrain: generally flat and contains much marshland
Geography: landlocked; glacial scouring accounts for the flatness of Belarusian terrain and for its 11,000 lakes; the
country is geologically well endowed with extensive deposits of granite, dolomitic limestone, marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and
clay
Ethnic groups: Belarusian 81.2%,
Russian 11.4%, Polish 3.9%, Ukrainian 2.4%, other 1.1% (1999 census)
Economy: Belarus's economy in 2004-05 posted 6.4% and 7.8% growth. Still, the economy continues to be hampered by high inflation,
persistent trade deficits, and ongoing rocky relations with Russia, Belarus' largest trading partner and energy supplier.
Belarus has seen little structural reform since 1995, when President LUKASHENKO launched the country on the path of "market
socialism." In keeping with this policy, LUKASHENKO reimposed administrative controls over prices and currency exchange rates
and expanded the state's right to intervene in the management of private enterprises. In addition, businesses have been
subject to pressure on the part of central and local governments, e.g., arbitrary changes in regulations, numerous rigorous
inspections, retroactive application of new business regulations, and arrests of "disruptive" businessmen and factory owners.
A wide range of redistributive policies has helped those at the bottom of the ladder; the Gini coefficient is among the lowest
in the world. For the time being, Belarus remains self-isolated from the West and its open-market economies. Growth has been
strong in recent years, despite the roadblocks in a tough, centrally directed economy and the high, but decreasing, rate of
inflation. Growth has been buoyed by increased Russian demand for generally noncompetitive Belarusian goods.
GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,600 (2005 est.)
GDP real growth: 7.8% (2005 est.)
Unemployment rate: 2% officially registered
unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2004)
Internet country code: .by
Dial code: +375
After seven decades as a constituent republic of the USSR, Belarus attained its independence in 1991. It has retained
closer political and economic ties to Russia than any of the other former Soviet republics. Belarus and Russia signed a treaty
on a two-state union on 8 December 1999 envisioning greater political and economic integration. Although Belarus agreed to a
framework to carry out the accord, serious implementation has yet to take place. Since his election in July 1995 as the
country's first president, Alexander LUKASHENKO has steadily consolidated his power through authoritarian means. Government
restrictions on freedom of speech and the press, peaceful assembly, and religion continue.